Tie-Dye... Oh My!

I want to start by letting you know that I'm really not crazy! A few years ago I had an idea to tie-dye t-shirts with ALL of the 1st Grade students, we use them as our "uniform" for field trips.  The kids love them and they are a great way for us to keep track of our kiddos while we are away from the classroom.

Each time we take on this GIANT task I try to figure out how to do it better than the time before. It always amazes me how much fun the kids have with this activity.

Students get to choose the design for their shirt during class (they choose from the designs that come with the dye package). Then the shirts are labeled with each student's name on masking tape and wrapped around a rubber band.   When we start to dye shirts, students are called over to choose the colors they would like.  We don't let students put any dye on the shirts because adults (teachers) have a hard time keeping the dye only on the t-shirts!

Getting ready to rinse the extra dye out of the shirts...

After dye is placed on a shirt, they are placed in a plastic grocery sack and tied shut.  Once school is out, I take all the bags home in a VERY LARGE garbage sack.  The shirts are removed from the sacks and extra dye is rinsed from the shirts while they are still wrapped in the design.  After dye has been rinsed, remove rubber bands and allow t-shirts to air dry.  When shirts are dry, rinse them in vinegar water to set the dye and allow them to dry again.

Maybe I should have worn gloves while I rinsed! Mrs. I is not allowed to tie double knots in the sacks anymore.

I'm glad my husband was at Wood Badge! He'll never know about the pond in our driveway....

Close to done. I love how bright the colors are and the fun designs the kids chose.  Once the shirts have dried after the vinegar and water rinse, it's time to wash.  I try to keep similar colors together just incase the color runs.  Wash on warm and dry! That's it!

 That is 90 tie-dyed t-shirts!

Take a look at our hard work!

The side bulls-eye.

The crumple.

The rolled stripes. (Very Patriotic!)

I already have plans to improve for next year!!!

Kid Quote of the Week

 I always ask two students to retrieve our lunch basket from the lunchroom. Most of my students pack a lunch (close to 90%), so our cold lunch basket gets a little heavy and slightly overloaded at the end of lunch. It can be pretty heavy sometimes.....

"You're going to have to be tough! It's really full today." Me

"Yeah (head nod), I have been workin' out at my house (shoulder shrug). I'm tough."  Daxton ~ Mr. Tough Guy

Back to School!

I don't know about you, but I'm not quite sure where my summer went! We have been so busy as a family exploring new places and spending time together! (That is my FAVORITE part of summer!)

But alas.... My brain has shifted into school mode and I find myself spending more and more time in my classroom getting ready for the upcoming year.  I decided to update many of the posters in my classroom, I was in need of a change.  I am so excited because I made these new alphabet and number posters to coordinate with my classroom decor!

You can find the Alphabet Poster Set HERE.

And the Chalkboard Number Posters HERE.

Now to get them up and pictures taken soon!

Kid Quote of the Week

So... I admit it, I bribe my students! I like to give my students "Smart Pills" before every test we take. Yes, I know what your thinking - it's candy/food and a bribe - but it's only two tiny pieces of Skittles, Sixlets, Jelly Belly Beans, etc. The
kids love it and I'm reminded if I forget! I think they work if I do say so myself.....

"These aren't Smart Pills, they're Smart Beans!" Andrew ~ Mr. Smarty Pants

Kid Quote of the Week

This week I had the funniest sentence come back on a student's spelling homework.  I don't give my students a spelling list to memorize, I give them a spelling pattern and encourage them to write down any words they know and use them in various sentences.

This week our spelling pattern included words with the -ar pattern, like star and shark.  As I was going through returned homework to create a list of words for our spelling test I came across this wonderful sentence.  I am POSITIVE that her mom did not look at her homework before she returned it to school....

"My mom has relly (really) lowd (loud) farts." Annalynne ~ Miss Honesty

Kid Quote of the Week

 The best part of listening to my students read.... when they start to get the humor in a book and when they can't put it down because they just need to "read two more pages"....

"I just need two more pages until I defeat this book!..... I mean beat!....I mean win!" Carter ~ Book Conqueror & Competitive Reader

Kid Quotes of the Week

This kiddo is wondering the same thing I do. Everyday.  All.  Day.  Long..... "Where did I put my pen/pencil/pointer/brain!"

"That's the miracle about pencils!  Whenever they roll off your desk, you can NEVER find them!" Blake ~ Perplexed by Pencils

Leprechaun Traps

Have you ever set a leprechaun trap? This was the first time I've had my students build leprechaun traps.  It was a great STEM project!  I had my class draw a "blueprint" for their trap and write the directions they thought they would follow to build their trap and then they went home....

They each did a FANTASTIC job ~ or their parents really did :)  We looked on Pinterest as a class to give them some ideas before they started drawing their blueprints.  You can find some great ideas at Moms and Munchkins. Everyone took turns explaining how their trap was going to catch a leprechaun. Then we set them up all around the classroom at the end of the school day and crossed our fingers that we might catch a leprechaun!  The kids had so many things they were going to wish for if they caught the little guy.....

NO LUCK! The kids were bummed that no one caught a leprechaun. But they enjoyed the "bag of gold" our leprechaun left.

And then they had to clean up the mess our mischievous leprechaun left for us.....

In the end, it was a great day and a wonderful project that allowed parents to get involved. It's definitely a keeper and maybe, just maybe, we might catch that sneaky leprechaun next year.....

St.Patrick's Day Measuring FREEBIE!

My students love to measure things around the classroom.  They really love to ask if they can measure me!  It's so much fun to see the excitement they have when exploring within the classroom.

 This fun nonstandard measurement activity is FREE for a limited time!

 Students will have fun measuring and comparing different St. Patrick's Day pictures in Lucky Measurements.

Kid Quote of the Week

I feel like a broken record when I repeatedly ask my students if they are using their best coloring skills and making an attempt at staying inside the lines, but every now and then they take you just a little to serious......

"I never knew coloring could be so important!" Robert ~ The Perfectionist

"Or so lovely!" Kaylynn ~ The Dreamer

Kid Quote of the Week

If it's not the 100th Day of School for you yet, it will  be soon!  Our class celebrated it this last week. (A little early, but I couldn't handle two parties in a row ~ 100th Day of School and Valentine's!)

I love to have the kids write how they think they will look, be, play, etc. when they are 100 years old.

It leads to some very interesting interpretations of age...

"I hope I don't look like my grandma when I'm 100 years old!" Lexi ~ Miss In-Denial

Only the sweetest, shiest of students would tell me they DO NOT want to look like their grandparent! LOL!

Kid Quote of the Week

This week our school has been celebrating Africa.  We've tried food, listened to guest speakers, made crafts, watched videos......  We've done so many activities!

Our last project was making a necklace with a paper plate.  While explaining to the kids how it would look like a necklace (I of course put the example on to demonstrate how the necklace-plate would look), Jane let me know how it REALLY looked!

"It's the cone of shame!" Jane ~ Oh Witty One

Needless to say, it was no longer a necklace but "the cone of shame".  I had a good laugh and so did the rest of the class; however, I don't think I'll ever look at a paper plate the same again....

Kid Quote of the Week

You always know when you've spent enough time on a writing activity......

"Mrs. Jensen, is this (writing activity) a poem?" Blake

"No." Me

"Whew! That's a relief!" Sofia ~ Not a Future Poetry Writer

Kid Quote of the Week

"Teacher, did you know if you accidentally write an 'F' you can turn it into a 'P' really easy?!  I just found that out!"  Tallon ~ Shortcut taker

Kid Quote of the Week

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't be bothered to get undressed one layer at a time?  Like pulling off your pants and underwear at the same time, and then your mom would get mad when they went through the laundry that way?

This week's Kid Quote comes from my co-worker's classroom.  After completing centers in her class she asked the students to pick up......

"Teacher there's UNDERWEAR under the table!!" Concerned Classmate

Wondering what her students were talking about she looked under the table and sure enough! Underwear!  They were clean, I'm sure they fell out of a students pant leg and (because it's 1st grade) they never even noticed.

We've ALL been in that awkward place; maybe it was a sock in your sweater arm, or the dry sheet in your pant leg instead.  But it can really start a conversation when it's underwear under the table!

Now I wonder what would YOU do with the underwear?!.......

Kid Quote of the Week

Last week was a little crazy!  There are so many things going on this time of year and I had math curriculum training this week too! (More about that later... I'm really excited about it!!)

This week while writing during our class centers a group of kids were talking about older and younger siblings and how much they bug them......

"My little sister is SO annoying.  She invades my personal space!" Blake ~ Annoyed Older Brother

I really wanted to tell them that it won't matter how old they get, siblings (older & younger) will always be annoying.

Kid Quote of the Week

Some of my students have been reading and working on a book study of Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne. They all agreed that they would LOVE to have a tree fort, some of them were pretty disappointed in their parents.....

"My mom won't let me build a fort! It's just TORTURE!" - Sofia ~ Future Fort Builder

Kid Quote of the Week

This week has been all about Thanksgiving and being thankful.  As a class we were working on writing all the things we are thankful for......

"I'm thankful for clothes because without them I would be naked.  Clothes are VERY important." Sofia ~ Miss Proper

"I like running around naked!" Carter ~ Rebel Rouser/Rule Breaker

Kid Quote of the Week

Our class has been working on feelings in our Second Step Social/Emotional curriculum.  There are many pictures of differnent situations that we look at and try to determine the best action/reaction to.
This week the picture clearly showed an angry child and Mylee had a great comment......

Just picture a finger wave, with a hand on a hip, and a head bob........

Hit me with your other bad mood!

"Hit me with your other bad mood!" Mylee ~ 6 Going on 16

Freebies

I love my Math Journal Labels!

You can try them out HERE for FREE!

You can find Math Journal Labels for the entire school year HERE (That's 180 labels!), or find labels for each month here:

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

Let me know how they work in your classroom!